Star Staff Profile: Pete Fierro
Pete Fierro has spent a total of 17 years with Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas in our Odessa and Midland offices, but it was his one-year break to join a family business that convinced him that Legal Aid was where he belonged.
“I made more money that year and worked a lot of hours, but I wasn’t happy,” says Pete. “I learned of the job opening in Legal Aid’s Odessa office and have been blessed with a second opportunity.”
Starting his Legal Aid career in 2003 with LANWT’s Midland office, Pete joined the Odessa office in 2018 as the Equal Justice Volunteer Program (EJVP) Coordinator. Pete was selected as “Pro Bono Coordinator of the Year” in 2012 by the State Bar of Texas’ Committee on Legal Services to the Poor in Civil Matters. “I wanted to prove that even a small market like Midland could excel with pro bono work like the big market cities,” he says.
The pandemic was a challenging time for Pete as he has little love for Zoom interfacing. “I am just not tech savvy,” he says. “The running joke is that I am the face of Legal Aid because I tend to go where the lawyers are, even though I’m not a lawyer. I make it a point to attend bar luncheons, I go to the mixers hosted by lawyers, and even attend their Christmas and Halloween parties. I want to continue to build these relationships so attorneys will make time for me when I call about a clinic or placing a case.”
He hosts an annual celebration to honor volunteer attorneys for their service with plaques, awards, and city resolutions, and has presented flags that have flown at the State Capital building to some volunteers. A Pro Bono Advisory Board he recruited meets several times a year to check in with the EJVP to suggest improvements or make changes as needed.
Pete looks for ways to work with other potential nonprofit partners as well. “The food bank’s clients likely have issues that we can address. Are they picking up food because they lost a job? Are they facing eviction? How can we work together to help each other meet people’s needs?”
Pete shared that Legal Aid is much more than family law. “Many people think we only do divorces and that type of thing,” he says. “But we do so much more. We handle evictions, expungements, and veterans’ benefits, and other matters, too.”
“I made more money that year and worked a lot of hours, but I wasn’t happy,” says Pete. “I learned of the job opening in Legal Aid’s Odessa office and have been blessed with a second opportunity.”
Starting his Legal Aid career in 2003 with LANWT’s Midland office, Pete joined the Odessa office in 2018 as the Equal Justice Volunteer Program (EJVP) Coordinator. Pete was selected as “Pro Bono Coordinator of the Year” in 2012 by the State Bar of Texas’ Committee on Legal Services to the Poor in Civil Matters. “I wanted to prove that even a small market like Midland could excel with pro bono work like the big market cities,” he says.
The pandemic was a challenging time for Pete as he has little love for Zoom interfacing. “I am just not tech savvy,” he says. “The running joke is that I am the face of Legal Aid because I tend to go where the lawyers are, even though I’m not a lawyer. I make it a point to attend bar luncheons, I go to the mixers hosted by lawyers, and even attend their Christmas and Halloween parties. I want to continue to build these relationships so attorneys will make time for me when I call about a clinic or placing a case.”
He hosts an annual celebration to honor volunteer attorneys for their service with plaques, awards, and city resolutions, and has presented flags that have flown at the State Capital building to some volunteers. A Pro Bono Advisory Board he recruited meets several times a year to check in with the EJVP to suggest improvements or make changes as needed.
Pete looks for ways to work with other potential nonprofit partners as well. “The food bank’s clients likely have issues that we can address. Are they picking up food because they lost a job? Are they facing eviction? How can we work together to help each other meet people’s needs?”
Pete shared that Legal Aid is much more than family law. “Many people think we only do divorces and that type of thing,” he says. “But we do so much more. We handle evictions, expungements, and veterans’ benefits, and other matters, too.”